Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Halloween Bakes

Without a question, my favorite holiday is Christmas. Even though it’s becoming more and more over-commercialized, I still enjoy seeing all the Christmas decorations and hearing the carols, not to mention the sweet aroma of gingerbread cookies baking in the oven.

My second favorite holiday, also without a question, is Halloween. It is probably not a coincidence that it happens in the peak of autumn when all the leaves are the deepest shade of gold and the air is crisp with just the hint of the approaching winter. The fact that autumn is the season of harvest with no shortage of ciders, caramel apples, chestnuts and pumpkins among other yummy things, also does not hurt. The most fun part of Halloween, of course, is trick or treat. You never really outgrow it. Mind you, I’m not saying I want to dress up in silly costumes and go knocking on doors for candy, but buying candies and waiting anxiously by the door to see what/who turns up shouting “Trick or Treat” is something I never get tired of. Outside of the US, trick or treat is rare. While we were in Tokyo, the Americans in our neighborhood organized trick or treat for kids. Knowing exactly whose kids will turn up at your doorstep takes a little bit of fun out of it, but I still looked forward to seeing the kids in cute costumes. And if you know me, you’d know I must really love Halloween to want to see kids at my door!

This year, I decided to celebrate and introduce Halloween to Singaporeans by holding a Halloween baking class on Oct 14th from 11am to 2pm at Palate Sensations. We’ll be making chocolate spider web cupcakes and witch’s broomstick cookies. The cupcakes are soft and fluffy, topped with a chocolate sauce. It is NOT overly sweet but full of chocolate flavors. Although Jason teased me that the cookies don’t really look like broomsticks, I think they’re cute. They also taste great too, not to mention tons of fun to make. It was nice to let the kid inside me out to create something less perfect and more fun, instead of my usual elaborate cakes.

About Me

After obtaining her Doctorate in Pharmacy, Lynn spent years working in the healthcare industry but was frustrated that she couldn’t derive any satisfaction from her career. She finally made the decision to pursue what she enjoys doing the most: making delicious desserts and sharing them with the people in her life. She enrolled in the French culinary institute Le Cordon Bleu in Tokyo and obtained her diploma in French patisserie in December 2006.

When not in her kitchen whisk in hand, Lynn enjoys taking photos of food and her surroundings. Her photos have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Hong Kong Chic, Tokyo Chic, Singapore Chic, promotional materials for Le Goûter Bernadaud Hong Kong and several websites and web based magazines. The cookbook that she shot: Wine Dinners by Melina and NK Yong went on to win Best Wine Book of the Year at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2009.

Lynn started taking riding lessons in 2009 and before long, weekly lessons became bi-weekly, then three times a week. She now rides 5 days a week at the Singapore Polo Club on a lovely Lipizzaner mare named Istria.